[video clip] >> america, as we begin this election year, we have to be clear, democracy is on the ballot. your freedom is on the ballot. ♪ host: it has been three years since the attack on the u.s. capitol, and president biden used the anniversary to frame the upcoming election is a referendum on democracy. in response, former president donald trump, the current gop front runner, called the message fear mongering. we want to hear from you. is democracy a top issue in the selection? our phone (202) 748-8001 lines for republicans are (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000.

independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us, (202) 748-8003. on facebook, if you would like to reach us on social media, we are at facebook.com/c-span. we are on x at @cspanwj. that was president biden's first campaign event of the year at bluebell, pennsylvania near valley forge. in the speed biden spoke about the state of democracy and his likely challenger, former president donald trump. here are more of those comments. [video clip] pres. biden: we are here to answer the most important of questions. is democracy still america's sacred cause? i mean it. this is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical. is democracy still america's

sacred cause, it's the most urgent question of our time. it is with a 2024 election is all about. the choice is clear. donald trump's campaign is about him. not america. not you. donald trump's campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. he is willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power. our campaign is different. for me and kamala it is about america, about you, every age and background that occupies this country. it is about the future that we will continue to build together. our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our american democracy. three years ago tomorrow we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storming the united states capital. it was almost in disbelief as you first turned on the news.

for the first time in our history, insurrection had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in america. the first time. smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking the police. outside gallows were erected as the maga crowd chanted "hang mike pence." inside, they hunted for speaker pelosi. the house was chanting as they marched through and smashed windows "where's nancy." over 140 three police officers were injured. i attended the funerals of police officers who died as a result of that day. because of donald trump's lies. they died because these lies brought a mob to washington. he promised it would be wild, and it was. he told the crowd "fight like hell" and all hell was

unleashed. he promised he would be side-by-side with them. as usual, he left the dirty work to others. host: as i mentioned earlier, former president donald trump responded to that speech, accusing president biden of fear mongering in that speech. an article from thehill.com said trump, in remarks to supporters in sioux center, iowa, called the speech "a pathetic fear mongering campaign event" and he was only attacking him on the issue of democracy because he could not run on other issues. here are a portion of trump's remarks. [video clip] mr. trump: you voted the caucuses would get it done, and we would actually be stronger than ever before. it's hard to believe, because you see the damage that's been

done. no president has ever, ever -- and i often say you can take the 10 worst presidents in the history of our country, add them up, put them together, and they haven't done the damage joe biden has done to this country. what he's done to this country is unthinkable. biden's record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption, and failure. other than that, he is doing quite well, isn't he? that is a helluva list. that is why cricket joe is staging his -- crooked joe is staging his pathetic fear mongering event in pennsylvania today. he was stuttering through the whole thing. "he is a threat to democracy." they have weaponized government. he is saying i am a threat to democracy. host: we will hear more from both of those speeches later in the show. let's get to your call. the first is in houston, texas on the democratic line. good morning, paul. caller: good morning. you know, america is in a bad

state right now. fox news, newsmax, all of these other right wing conservative radio shows got over half the population brainwashed. it's pathetic. i am 68 years old. i've been voting ever since i was 18. i and never seen this country and this kind of shape. it's not joe biden's fault. host: do you think democracy is a top issue for you in this election? caller: it is one of the top. i think the democrats is on the wrong side of that immigration issue. there needs to be something done about that border, yes it do, you know? host: thank you for your call. joe in california on our republican line.

good morning, joe. caller: good morning, everyone. thanks for taking the call. thanks for c-span, generally unbiased. yes, democracy is the top issue, absolutely. because our democracy has been overthrown in a coup. it is really insane at this point that people think joe biden got 84 million votes. it's just insane. the level of lying of this current empire of lies that overthrew the country in 2020. mainstream media and c-span don't put the spin as if nothing happened, nothing to see there. it's really insane. everyone on the planet should watch -- the fraud they implemented during the covid experience with the remote voting boxes all over the place. they caught 1000 people stuffing

ballots. the stuff in carolina with giuliani. they have videos of two women rigging the election in the middle of the night. instead of arresting them, the terrible criminals who betrayed our nation, they prosecuted giuliani for saying that those two women rigged the election. and they attacked him. from julian assange to giuliani, not safe from the empire of lies that have been sending our children to war under false pretenses and doing other things. another key understanding is false flags. january 6 -- host: earlier this month, a couple of days ago, there was a piece in usa today from ken bloc k who says trump hired him to investigate the election and find voter fraud and he was unable to find it. when you say that there was so much voter fraud, how do you deal with things like this, we

are many cases have found, investigations and court rulings have found that there was no evidence of voter fraud that would have changed the come of the election -- the outcome of the election? caller: i would tell them to look at the facts. 1000 mules. the research is fact, it is bulletproof. there was massive rigging coast-to-coast. joe biden cannot even fill up a high school gym, and they expect us to believe he is the most popular president in the history of our country? it's insane. it's amazing the level of brainwashing to me. that you would even ask me that question. do you really not know there was massive rigging? did you not see the video of the women taking votes out of ceiling in the middle of the night? host: we got the idea.

in georgia a court found there was defamation and the two women did not act out of line. let's go to willie in annapolis, maryland on the democratic line. caller: the first caller stole my sentiment. the second caller that you just talk to, i don't know what they were drinking or what kind of brainwashing was doing. i think president biden did a great job. i wish he would do more. they need to start going after trump, because he shows a lot of comparison, to me, to mussolini cocks -- to me, to mussolini, the way that he cocks his head up. a book in the early 1970's called "the modern-day romans" about how the country got so complacent. the brotherhood of the bell, how the billionaires were getting together, and if you look now it is about to come to pass, if you

look at people like clarence thomas who are dining with billionaires. i think that it's a whole spectrum, but i do believe that our democracy is threatened, and we better do what we can. host: thank you, willie. next, on the independent line. good morning, douglas. caller: i would like to say that i agree with the last gentleman. the reason that biden got 84 million votes is -- trump was a lousy president and he did try to steal the election. he incited a coup and he should never hold office in america again. and we are all going to vote against him again, because he's an idiot. joe biden did a wonderful job as president. he is still doing a great job, and i hope that we can keep him for four more years so he could do a fantastic job as he has been doing. thank you for letting me talk. host: next up, packed in new

jersey on the republican -- pat in new jersey on the republican line. caller: there was not an insurrection because trump called the national guard and nancy pelosi denied it. as far as the film goes, there are about 1600, the film they did not show from we the people. as far as the plants who were there, the deception -- there is so much scandal. listening to joe biden. trump should sue joe biden for defamation. joe biden did not even win the last election. you cannot win an election when you sit in a basement all day. they are just trying to build a case against trump. we know when all of this is through god is going to show the

lies and deception. wake up, america. you are being deceived.i want to say joe biden is the worst president we've ever had in history with open borders. it's disgraceful. host: do you think democracy is your top issue in this election? what is the top issue you are voting on? caller: what am i voting on? i am voting on -- as far as an open border, i am very concerned about this open border. our democracy is not being threatened at all. president trump was the best president we've ever had. just look at his policies. what joe biden is doing, that is completely -- i just can't believe the callers that are calling through. they think our country is doing well while we have open borders? we have sleeper cells here. we have a derelict of duty,

treason. you should be taken out for treason. host: let's go to elaine in st. louis, missouri on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you, c-span, for this continuous excellent coverage. something woke me up this morning, saws able to enjoy the complete speech -- so i was able to enjoy the complete speech that president biden gave. i thought that was excellent programming on your part. i must admit i was inspired by his speech. i thought it was so important that he spoke about, is democracy americans' sacred cause? he highlighted we haven't reached our full potential.

we have struggled to reach that creed. but we are still on that road. yes, i do believe our democracy is in jeopardy. one of the things we need to look at is the electoral college, because i think it's a remnant of the enslavement period. we need to get rid of it. thank you for the beautiful programming. host: thank you for your call, elaine. let's go to comments on social media on the question of, is democracy a top issue in this election? on facebook, for people who pay attention, it should be high on the list. unfortunately, people have a short memory and seem to forget the fact that a former president attempted to coup our government rather than maintain the american tradition of power.

we also have a text message and skippers, virginia. president biden has to motivate democrat voters to vote. he has to scare them. democracy is not my top issue. dumb wars that last decades are mine. greg and cleveland, ohio, democracy is over if the supreme court declares trump is immune from prosecution. also, people will only see what they want to see from january 6. that is greg in cleveland, ohio. gallup has recent polling looking at how satisfied people in the united states are with the democracy, finding that a record low are satisfied with the way democracy is working in the united states. here is that chart. starting around 60% when they started tracking this in 1984 now down all the way to 28%. that was based on a survey that

was run during december. it says that 28% are satisfied, down from a low of 35% after the january 6 the capitol riot's. 38% of democrats are satisfied with the way that democracy is working compared to 17% of republicans. americans with less formal education are less satisfied with the way the democracy is working. let's go back to your calls. richard is in wilmington, delaware on our independent line. go ahead, richard. caller: kimberly, i think you are doing a great job. host: thank you. caller: you should watch peter and learn how to cut people off a lot quicker when they are rambling. host: i let people have their say. caller: democracy is always important. as far as joe biden goes, he is a good man. he is a decent man.

he is not the best or brightest, but he tries to do what's right. trump, sorry, just doesn't go there. i just hope everything is going to work out and this time trump will probably lose by 10 million votes. you have a good new year. host: you as well. thank you, richard. let's go to darla in columbus, ohio on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say, first of all, our democracy is an important issue, but the borders are the most important issue we have going on right now. i want to comment on these people, especially the democrats , they are so worried about by then not being in -- about biden not being in office because they will lose their welfare rights. their free handouts are too much.

that's all i have to say. . thank you for -- host: thank you for your call. go ahead, john. caller: hello? host: yes, you can go ahead, john. we can hear you. caller: my thing with the democrats in the united states right now is that it is really hard to have democrats when you have one person, donald trump, doing nothing but lying. i really think that somebody should follow him up and say all the untruths there is. i hear these republicans talking about the border. the president doesn't control the border. there are many acts already in congress to help people at the border. republicans are not letting them go through. there has been a problem at the border for over 30, 40 years. since reagan.

nobody has done anything. the biggest problem in america today are lies. people are lying and they are believing them, all right? host: we do have a guest coming up later in the show to talk about immigration and what's happening at the u.s. border. stay tuned for that. let's go to duncan in greenville, tennessee on the independent line. good morning. caller: hi. can you hear me? host: yes. caller: i think people need to look at this from a historical perspective and go back to the founding of the country. if you look at the constitution, nowhere in the constitution is politics or political parties mentioned. in fact, if you look at george washington, he is the first nonpolitical president we have ever had in united states history. subsequent to him, everyone got involved in the political party in one way or another.

i think everybody's motivation as a politician, or whatever, to get into office is to obviously manipulate the public to get them to vote for them so they have a job. i think the biggest problem to democracy is the political parties themselves. we had a revolution, right? you can't hold royal title in the united states. the political party itself is a creature of great britain. i don't think that it would be a far-reaching fewer able to get rid of the political parties, get the best candidate possible for the job, and just go from there. it is an issue on the merits and that's pretty much all i have to say. host: thank you for your call, duncan. let's hear more from orma president donald trump yesterday at the campaign stop in sioux center, iowa criticizing president biden. [video clip] mr. trump: if you take a look,

crooked joe cannot talk about a single issue that matters to hard-working americans because he has failed you and he has betrayed us on every single issue, and on policy he is the worst ever, and people have known that for a long time. secretaries of state have said he doesn't know what he's doing. obama said it. a lot of people have said it. he doesn't know what he's doing. you look at what's happening in the middle east. you look at what's going on with ukraine. he doesn't know what he's doing. biden and the radical left democrats like to us because they know americans can't stand the truth about them, because they know how badly they're doing. they are doing so badly -- they start off with a base -- a friend of mine called up, we are leading by 11 and a number of places. 11 is a lot. my friend said, how come you are only leading by 11? this guy cannot put two sentences together. i said, they start off with the base at 38.

hope -- republicans have to do it the old-fashioned way and earn every one of them. we all know what that base is. we have certain people who will vote democrat almost no matter what. i tell you, the union part of that base is coming to us, the union part. the hispanic part is coming to us at levels no one has ever seen before. we are leading with hispanics. that has never happened before. and african-american is coming to us at a level i don't think any republican has seen, because they understand that this man is not capable. he is not a capable person. if you had a store and you wanted to take a week off, you wouldn't put him in charge of the store. you wouldn't. would you trust him to run your store? i don't think anyone would. that is a little thing, if you have a store, would you trust the president of the united states to run your store?

he wouldn't do it. this election as a last chance to save america. the battle begins in iowa january 15. host: back to your calls. brenda and st. louis, missouri on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for accepting my call. democracy is very very important. the fact that these people are still running around pretending that nothing happened up in washington when they went up there and destroyed the people's house is absurd. i had to make my son leave my room for laughing at them. i can understand. he hears all of these elderly people, as old as i am, making all of these outrageous accusations. the point that you think everyone want to tromp in office, that joe biden did it

win -- everyone doesn't love trump. i wish these people would get a life and find someone in their life that's very important to them, because this is crazy. this is all i have to say. even listening to trump's voice on wanted to hang up. i wouldn't leave him in charge of a store. the store would be gone by the time you get back. he would have taken everything, including the building. thank you, and have a blessed day. host: joe in richmond, maine on the republican line. go ahead, joe. caller: good morning. the store would have full toilets anyway, so that would be a good thing. january 6 is the third anniversary of january 6. every year c-span plays videos from january 6. new videos that no one has seen, essentially, unless you are a fox news watcher or go on the

internet. i'd check on c-span to play the videos of the people being escorted inside peacefully. you never show that. i really think that's something that everyone should see. if you don't show it, then, well, i guess we will be in our silos. that is my challenge to c-span. bring up the videos of people being brought in. bring up the videos of people being shot with rubber bullets that were just standing there. until they started -- they started a riot. the police started the riot. if anyone can see that, look at the videos. i demand you play the videos. thank you. host: thank you for your call, joe. i will mention that the committee on house administration has begun posting some of the videos from january 6. it is available to the public. you can go to cha.house.gov to

see some of those videos. the speaker has promised that more of these videos will be posted. we only have some of them so far, but there will supposedly be more of those coming and be publicly available for people to view the videos themselves. next up, we have met in somerville, massachusetts on our independent line. caller: good morning. i can't believe what i hear from these people, like the guy in maine who must be in a bubble. i actually talked to my friend from maine. they must be on the same main line of fox news. he was saying the same thing. they escorted them in peacefully . i don't care what a few people on that day escorted people in four. before things got violent. i saw with my two eyes the violent human being trump do everything he could to incite this. if you don't want to believe

that, fine. what i challenge republicans and conservatives is to have some integrity. to have some standards. to have some faith in the institutions that we were supposed to rely on as a nation instead of running around, crying about conspiracy theories and whatever your feelings think about watching cops get bashed with flagpoles on january 6. then, an entire party try to deny that and tell us it didn't happen when we saw it in front of our own eyes. i am so pit off i can't even -- pissed off i can even speak. i have been watching c-span since i was 18 and i'm almost 40. what i've seen my entire life is conservatives running around and they can't even face up to reality. they tell us that freaking climate change is fake, evolution is fake. they don't understand public health so they go around

thinking that abstinence is the answer to things like aids. i'm so sick of these people. they sell us out to billionaires and they act like they are the working class. these are the same people who voted in hitler. now i see how it could happen. host: do you think the democracy is the top issue for you in this election? caller: without a doubt, 100%. the fact that these people don't realize it is a scary thing. is not hyperbole to say that this is what led to hitler. trump is the worst, most offensive, most obnoxious thing on this nation. he is an affront to every freaking veteran who fought for this nation, an affront to everything that this nation stands for. republicans, have some freaking integrity. get off of your fox news infotainment. get a brain. get some emotional maturity. host: let's go to jeff in florida on our democratic line.

caller: good morning, kimberly. i think that you guys are doing a great job. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to call in, because i heard a lot of good comments from a lot of people on both lines. democratic -- actually, all three. democratic and independent and republican. one of the callers on while i was on the line hit the nail squarely on the head. our problem in america is that the voters, like you and me and all of the callers, are tied to a party. we want to tie ourselves to a democratic or republican party. in fact, that's not true. the speeches that i heard joe biden talk about democracy, he represents a party that will not allow another opponent. he represents a party that doesn't want a primary in iowa. he won't allow robert kennedy to

run against him in new hampshire. whether you like robert kennedy or not, he should be allowed to run as a democrat if he wanted to. that's democracy. joe biden, his victory is to not let anyone run against him. that's not democracy. that really ticks me off. he should welcome an opponent. four years ago, eight years ago, 12 years ago, all the way back to when i voted in 1972, primaries were a vital part of our election. lyndon johnson, he was going to lose his primary. he was a sitting president. nobody stopped senator mccarthy from running then, or senator kennedy. we have to look at joe biden. joe biden wants to win by

keeping everybody off the ballot, and he is doing it -- i am no fan of trump's, but trump should be on all ballots and let the people decide. host: let's go to robin in old forge, pennsylvania on the republican line. caller: that guy stole my thunder. joe biden's speech was disgusting. that man, i want you to know, i have been in my home for over 20 years. i had to pay $1000 to fill my oi l. my light bill has -- not double -- yeah, double from $65 to $145. i want to know, democrats, who do you think you are to tell us that we shouldn't be voting for trump? that is our right as americans. we are not telling you anything. the democrats calling in, don't you realize that your party doesn't even want joe in there,

but you are stuck with him? that is what this is about. he is a dictator. he is the one, like the man said, keeping everyone off the ballot and doesn't even want trump. trying to get trump put in jail. he is evil, evil, evil. host: kevin on our independent line. caller: my comments are the future of this country are mass shootings, taking women's rights, no more presidents. autocrats is what they want. trump is going to kick us out of nato to do putin's work. i can't believe the republican party kicked liz cheney out. liz cheney over trump? something is wrong. there might be no more

"washington journal" when trump gets in. the veterans cemeteries, these guys died for democracy. not autocrats. are you going to send your son to warfarin autocrat? it should be number one for everybody. that is my comment. host: alfred and buena vista, georgia. go ahead. please, make sure to turn down the volume on your tv. caller: yes, ma'am. hold on. host: thanks, alfred. go ahead. caller: i want to make my statement about this president primary and all of the stuff going on here in the history of this 24-year general election stuff. my comments, i feel like joe

biden has done the best job a president could have done in the time that he has been in there. i feel like joe biden was a man who was honest about what he's doing and he had his hands full when he got in there. he was all scrambled up, messed up from donald trump's time being in there. i feel like joe biden could run this better in his sleep than donald trump could run it woke. donald trump is trying to tear the country apart and make everyone feel like they don't have any friendship with each other. having people killing one another. it don't make sense. i feel like it's a hard job, but for president he is doing a good job. he can't unscramble the world at one time. i feel like he's doing a good job. i feel like if he gets four more years in come he's going to do a better job. thank you. host: lue on our democratic line..

caller: thank you. i truly believe democracy is on the mind. i think trump is a dictator, and i think his followers are totally, totally rain washed. they can't see anything in front of them except -- totally, totally brainwashed. they can't see anything in front of them except gasoline coming down to $1.86 a gallon. this is what they want. they believe that they are the makers and everyone else are the takers. nothing will change their mind. they love trump, they love cheap gas, and that's what they want. i'm sorry, but we are headed towards the absence of democracy in america if he wins. host: the question we are doing today is, is democracy a top

issue in this election? comments from facebook, absolutely. the 2024 election is about whether americans want to keep our democracy or not. there won't be an election in 2028 if trump wins. that is as clear already as losing roe was in 20. completely predictable. i want to go to derek and helena, alabama on the republican line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: what i want to challenge all voters to do is to put personal feelings to the side when you are making decisions on who you will elect. it is amazing how many democrats voted for joe biden simply because they don't like donald trump. i don't like donald trump, but i will choose donald trump because he is the best person for the job. he is a businessman. do we want to elect joe biden, who has spent his entire life

and has accomplished nothing? these are important things that you need to think about and realize when you are deciding who will run things the best. the good thing about donald trump is he surrounds himself with good people. he might not be a good person himself, but he will choose the right people to surround himself with. that is what we need. we don't need someone who will walk around on a leash like joe biden and told what to do and told what to say. that's what we have right now. there is a reason why the other countries are laughing at us. it's embarrassing. there is nothing presidential about that man. host: bruce is in independence, kentucky on our independent line. caller: good show. how are you? thanks for taking my call. good show and good callers today. it is not going to be solved by a democrat-republican thing. we all know that now. we all know that we need somebody in there who can do the

job. we have not, at this point, had that. i think it's obvious, all the things going on in the world today, that people are not getting along. it's got to be done. we have to put aside feelings. that's all i have to say. thanks for taking my call. host: jonathan in costa mesa, california on our democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i am so angry that this is happening. i think chris christie should get out of the race. host: specifically angry that what is happening? caller: just that we are on -- the question is it we are going to lose our democracy or not. if people really appreciate freedom and the ability to speak your own mind, to have somebody

have to have a warrant before they come in your house, all of the things that people from south america and other countries are running to this country, invading the border for. i am asking your republican callers to just take a minute and think about what you are going to lose if you vote for this man. now, i just want them to take a minute and see what it is when they cast a ballot if donald trump is the nominee. and i hope he's not the nominee. if anyone knows democracy is on the ballot right now, it's donald trump. you get your republican callers calling in and saying biden's crime family. are you serious? this guy is in four cases. nobody knows better -- the most patriotic thing that anyone can

do for this country is for donald trump to get out of the race. he would admit what he's done and bail out of the race. if you look at the history of politics, people who have been in the position to put country first instead of their own selfish agenda have gotten out of the race. if chris christie called him donald duck he could do better. he is benedict donald. he is a traitor to our country. you republicans need to wake up, because you are talking nonsense about biden and the country. i just can't believe -- i'm angry about the phraseology of people calling in. this is right wing radio. it is all of the stuff --

fairytale is not the word that biden should have used. he should have used a nightmare. he is too nice of a guy. host: joey in atlanta, georgia. caller: it is really so sad how we can hear people call, especially on the democratic side, who are so twisted and evil and hateful. like the previous caller matt. you could sense that he is such a hateful person. here you have a president, donald trump, who was attacked from day one. they said he was a spy, he was an evil person trying to do so many things against this country. yet, he has been in business for years and years. nobody has ever been able to say, yes, he is done this or done that. no one has done that yet because they are a bunch of lies.

despite those lies come he has still been a person of integrity. he isn't perfect, but he has been one of the best presidents that this country has ever had. host: mark in cloverdale, indiana on our independent line. caller: good morning. i am calling in. the biggest threat to democracy is not trump. he stands for free and fair elections. i would say the biggest threat to democracy are the democrats. they want 80,000 more irs agents to do body cavity searches on the waitresses when they come out to see if they got tips. that is one simple illustration. another illustration is the fbi. most of them are democrats. you know exactly the shenanigans they brought trump, trying to

get him impeached along with hillary clinton. working together in a clandestine-type operations. you look at the lawsuits against trump. all of these are in democrat districts. all they are is a mockery to our judicial system, because it is 95% democrats in the washington, d.c. area. it is like being brought before your enemies and judged. i believe we should hold his, president trump's, charges and so forth in south dakota. we have some commonsense people in south dakota and indiana. we are -- yeah, we are having a problem with democracy. host: i want to bring in more

comments from one of the speeches yesterday, more from president biden drawing more of a contrast between himself and the former president. [video clip] pres. biden: there is no confusion about who trump is and what he intends to do. i placed my hand on our family bible and i swore an oath on the very same steps of the capitol 14 days after the attack on january 6. as i looked out over the capital city, whose streets were lined with national guard to prevent another attack, i saw in america that had been pushed to the brink. i felt enormous pride. i felt enormous pride in america, because american democracy had been tested. american democracy had held

together. when trump could see weakness in our democracy and continue to talk about it, i saw strength. your strength. it is not hyperbole. your strength. your integrity. america's strength and integrity. ordinary citizens, elected officials, the american judicial system to put the constitution first sometimes at their peril. at their peril. because of them, because of you, the will of the people prevailed. not the anger of a mob with the appetites of one man. the attack on january 6 happened, there was no doubt about the truth. at the time, even republican members of congress, and fox news commentators, publicly and privately condemned the attack. as one republican senator said,

trump's behavior was embarrassing and humiliating to the country. now, that same senator in those same people -- and of those same people have changed their tune. as time has gone on, politics, fear, and money have all intervened. now these maga voices who know the truth about trump on january 6 have abandoned the truth, have abandoned democracy. they made their choice. now, the rest of us, democrats, independents, and mainstream republicans, need to make our choice. i don't -- i know mine. and i believe i know america's. defendant the truth, not give into the big lie, embrace the declarations and not abandon it. host: larry in spring hill, tennessee on our line.

hi, go ahead. caller: i was calling in regards to the gentleman calling in. it is ridiculous for someone to be so racist and hatred on this day and time. they are not looking for the positive of getting things done. the republican party is gone. the democrat is doing everything they can in their will to get things -- host: do you think democracy is a top issue for you in this election? caller: yes. the republican party is pushing heavy. they do not need trump nowhere near the white house. the man has no respect, no dignity, no pride for himself.

host: next up is chuck in michigan on our republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: good morning. when trump was in office, he was a bully. i will agree. i am a republican. he was a bully. it wasn't personal. that's just his character. no matter what he has done in business and his personal life, whatever. the bottom line is, joe biden is so soft we are being made fun of by the rest of the world. russia. someone once told me that joe was an empty vessel inside. joe took over when things were down with the pandemic, that whatever goes down comes up.

jimmy carter is one of the soft presidents. the difference between joe and jim, is joe is a crook. jimmy -- as soon as the day reagan took over. under trump, the country was strong. there were plenty of jobs. sam's club was $.99 for a short time. i have a picture on my phone. $.99. he took no crap from the other countries. he made the other countries pay up, nato, what they owe. he took charge, but he was a bully. he wasn't filtered. but i'm sure this time around he will be. if joe comes into office, the first day he starts shutting off all the oil. host: what makes you think trump would be different this time if he were to win reelection?

caller: i just feel he has learned from the past. i understand, my god, every three weeks he hires someone in the cabinet and lets them go. it was like a door that keeps opening and closing. i agree he was a bully, but this country was respected by the rest of the world. last summer, summer ago, it took 12 days. donald would have knocked that thing out of the sky. host: sandra in alabama on our independent line. good morning, sandra. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. first of all, i would just like to say that i'm not going to insult donald trump or joe biden. i think that we as americans need to listen and hear what the

actual person says. what comes out of their mouth. not listening to talking heads, the various news channels, but to actually listen to what they say. we have heard things from donald trump that were very disturbing. democracy has always been on the line. freedom has always been on the line. i would like -- we as americans to think about this. there is a scripture in the bible where israel wanted a king to be like other nations. god told them, you can have this king, but they will rape your women and take your money. this is what politicians do. they lie to us, they deceive us, we believe them, we vote for them. that is all i would like to say. host: lamar in texas on our democratic line.

caller: yeah, well, donald trump , there are a lot of people who like him, but he is the kind of guy who says what he thinks you want to hear. he doesn't say what he's really going to do. but if you listen to what he said upfront, he is going to be an autocrat, a bully from the first day. and he will. so far he has done everything he said negatively. all of the negative stuff he said he was going to do, he's done it. no one wants to pay attention. everyone wants to make him a superstar. it has nothing to do with him being a superstar. democracy has to do with the way you raise your children. you try to treat everyone the same. give them all an opportunity to be the best they can be. that is what biden is trying to do, so everyone calls himself.

i think he's being smart. he's trying to pull the country together by any means he can. the republicans and listening to the democrats. there's only so much he can do. everyone is worried about everyone telling him what to do. yeah, they are telling them what to do from both sides of the field. host: i would try to get to a couple more folks before we have to move on. new jersey on the republican line. caller: yes, hello. democracy, part of the issue is fair and balanced reporting by the press. you played a fairly long clip of joe biden yesterday with his january 6 speech. there are an awful lot of people that i hear her calling in on the independent/democrat line that have really never heard the end of trump's speech on january 6 at the rally, where he said,

let's all march peacefully down to the capitol and do our protesting there, or whatever. march peacefully. i don't think the mainstream media has ever played that. i would like you guys to play clip of that. host: we don't have that keyed up yet, but what we do have is attorney general merrick garland speaking on friday about the department of justice's work since the january 6 the tech. here is a -- the january 6 the tack. here's a portion of that. [video clip] >> the justice department has engaged in one of the most complex and resource intensive investigations in our history. we have initiated prosecutions and secured convictions across a wide range of criminal conduct on january 6, as well as in the days and weeks leading up to the attack. we have secured convictions of those who brutally assaulted officers at the capitol.

we have secured convictions against those who obstructed the certification of the presidential election. we have secured convictions of leaders of the proud boys and the oath keepers for seditious conspiracy. we have charged over 1250 individuals and obtained over 890 convictions in connection with the january 6 the attack. our work continues. as i said before, the justice department will hold all january 6 perpetrators accountable under the law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. in the ongoing january 6 investigations and prosecutions, led by the district attorney of the district of columbia and special counsel jack smith, the justice department is abiding by the long-standing norms that

insure our independence and integrity of our investigations. we are following the facts and law wherever they lead. we are enforcing the law without fear or favor. we are honoring our obligation to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of everyone in our country. we are upholding the rule of law. we are protecting the american people. host: you have time for one more call from john in florida on our independent line. caller: merrick garland, man, he is the biggest liar. that whole cabinet of biden, they are nothing but a bunch of liars. i see you talking on tv, but i can't hear what you are saying. host: i'm not saying anything. we are listening to you, john. caller: it is too bad that all of these black people are talking bad about trump, but did you know biden supported the

kkk? the democrats started the kkk, did you know that? the democratic party, all of these people who yell racism on trump, yet the kkk was started, jim crow laws, all by the democrats. they are the true evil of this country. i know trump isn't perfect, but i believe he is the best choice. you look at biden's 50 years, all he did was lie in his own nest. he didn't pay no money on the taxes, no taxes on the money he was given by china. special investigate that, yeah. that sounds like a good thing. how about that? host: vicky in houston, texas on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for the opportunity. i will talk fast. i was going to say a few things. i am a democrat. the dude just talked about the black people.

i am a black person, and i believe that president joe biden has accomplished many things. he was a representative, vice president, president, great dad, a role model. maga republicans, i used to be upset with them, but i'm not anymore because they can do however they want. this black person will be voting for biden. i don't like trump. the guy calls and says he doesn't like trump but loves his policies. i don't know what kinds of kids they're going to raise in a world like that. another person said bullying is ok. how are we going to admire bullying can we teach kids not to bully? people were escorted into buildings. yes, i saw the video where people were escorted. if you were a police officer standing there with millions -- two to 300 people coming at you, you would do it too.

i think democracy is more important, and i will be a black woman host: thanks for your call and things to everyone who weighed in. we will return to this question. but coming up next, we would your from charles foster, an immigration lawyer who served as an advisor to george w. bush and president obama. he will join us to discuss federal immigration policies at the southern border. later we have puck political correspondent who will discuss her podcast "somebody's gotta win" and the 2024 presidential election. we will be right back. >> american history tv, exploring people and events that tell the american story. a religious studies dresser jim

bennett on the formation of colts and the history of american colts -- cults. we will look at the house after lyndon b. johnson died with presidential scholars discussing his place in megan politics. explore king -- exploring the, can, watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online at any time at c-span.org/history. >> book tv featuring leading , authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. jessica wilson, pepperdine university and contributor -- from st. john's college and bailey university's jonathan tran talk about the value of a

liberal arts education. at 10:00 p.m., cultural critic and film historian peter with his book "pandora's box" look at the changes of filming over the past few years. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org -- booktv.org. >> starting tuesday, watch c-span's 2024 coverage as we are on the ground in iowa with candidates in the final week of campaigning before the caucus. here are the final arguments. watch voters meet the candidates and experience what it is like on the campaign trail. watch our live coverage on

c-span, c-span now, or c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capitol, to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by charles foster, a senior innovation policy advisor for the first 2000 and 2004 and obama 2008

campaigns. here to discuss immigration policy prevents. -- policy with us. he is u.s. immigration chair and immigration lawyer. guest: i am pleased to be with you. host: can you tell me more about your background in immigration policy? guest: i grew up in south texas in mcallen within walking distance of the rio grande. immigration -- i know immigration issues by dna and when i graduated from law school at the university of texas, i decided the best thing i could do is become an international lawyer but immigration is closer to what i like. i wanted to deal with an international client a -- clientele. i established a low firm and the past 50 years i have practiced

immigration law i started essentially by myself and now i have 140 people working with me people of what we do is representing individuals and families. i've handled a number of sensitive cases, one of which was turned into a movie about a chinese ballet dancer that defected. i became very involved in policy. i headed statewide commissions, have this divided before the house and senate subcommittees. i was a professor for 10 years and i worked for two presidents of the united states on immigration policy during their campaigns. host: illegal crossings along the u.s. border top 10,000

several days in december, a number that tori miller called unprecedented. can you describe the situation at the border right now and how it compares to the past? guest: when i was growing up at the border, that order -- i could wade across the border with a shotgun and go hunting. it is wide open. to say that the border now is wide open is a misstatement. the border is chaotic. there are a lot of reasons for that. there is a worldwide phenomenon. we could get into the reason why. abel are moving in large numbers -- people are moving in large

numbers. people are moving out of the middle east, north africa, getting into european countries. we have large move of people in the western hemisphere as well. sometimes we just focus on our border as a security point of view. there is also a humanitarian crisis. for example, because of conditions in venezuela, more than 5.5 million venezuelans have left venezuela for a better life in raise faces in latin america -- in various places in latin america. around 500,000 venezuelans have been able to enter the u.s. that is a small percentage of what is going on. part of this is a worldwide phenomenon.

there is another reason people are coming. what i'm talking about conditions in those countries, economic conditions, poverty, violence, crime, that push people out. there are paul thought. the number one pull factor in the u.s. is our economy. if you want to look at the most effective way -- at the end of george w. bush's administration, the numbers of people seeking entry into the u.s. plummeted. it plummeted in ratio to the decline of the u.s. economy. at the end of the great recession when we had high and employment, -- fell off. the same thing at the end of don trump's administration.

no one wants to deal with immigration by singlets destroy the economy to stop from coming. to answer your question about what is going on at the border, unprecedented numbers are coming because of push factors and indirectly we are incentivizing them. on the republican side, i think it is disingenuous for governor abbott and speaker johnson to say the order is wide open and we are providing you with free air conditioned transportation to great destinations in the north. that is a huge incentive for people to come. the various cartels along that path, they use those you clips. here is donald trump tell you that the order is wide open, governor desantis requiring you

transportation when you get to the border. on the democratic side, i think the administration -- the real answers on what to do would require legislation. i know we will have the opportunity to talk about that. host: the justice department suit texas over the new law that allows texas to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the texas-mexican border illegally. we have some information about it here on the screen, scheduled to take effect march 5. it allows police to arrest migrants suspected of crossing illegally. it makes it a state crime to cross the texas-mexico border,

mitch is a class d misdemeanor, repeat offenders could face a second degree felony with the punishment of two to 20 years in prison and required state judges to order migrants to be returned to mexico if they are convicted. can you talk about this law, why it is significant, and what it actually changes if it were to come into law? guest: that legislation which is very controversial which was a pet project of governor abbott, candace thing i can say is it is more than a political statement. governor abbott -- the average

person listening to what you just said would say what is wrong with that. i will take a stab at answering. proponents of the law new this, it is very likely never to go into effect. immigration is a federal issue. we cannot have 50 states having their own immigration laws. the supremacy laws of the constitution, when you have federal legislation, laws that deal with this topic, states are preemptive. these appear in court dealing with a statute in arizona, they found that federal law did reenter state law -- preempt state law. people doubt that we have a

different makeup of the super court today. i'm optimistic the supreme court will find that as before is preemptive. you have started sizes -- started sizes -- most will not agree and will be loath to view the ignore a recent major supreme court case under the principles of started sizes -- stare decisis. he said look along spend, that

is correct. could be a constable, sheriff, and a law-enforcement officer in the state of texas to arrest someone if they are legal. -- illegal. texas has over 2 million residents that are undocumented that have been here for tickets. kids in school, some are grandparents. there is no time limitation. anyone that is undocumented status. secondly, how can any local law enforcement agent begin to determine these issues? on what basis are they going to make these inquiries? no matter how good-faith the person is, it is almost certain

these inquiries that will -- if you are of hispanic origin, you are almost certain to be asked if you are legally in the united states. host: i wanted to hear your thoughts on the rest of that but i wanted to bring in a statement from the justice department echoing the points you are making saying texas cannot run its own immigration system. it'sfforts intrude on the federal government's authority to regulate entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrates united states immigration operations at proceedings and interfere with u.s. foreign relations. sb four is invalid and must be enjoined. that is from the justice department review this week. we will be taking calls with people who may have questions or comments for you.

our numbers for democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. back to you, mr. foster. you mentioned the federal government is the only one that can afford immigration law. is that the issue the courts are going to be deciding here as this progresses? guest: it will probably ultimately go to the supreme court. it is very well that the fifth circuit could uphold the law given the makeup. i am not confident entirely. the promotion will be -- the preemption will be started

sizes, that not many years ago the court on this precise issue. the proponents of the library candid. -- the proponents of this law were very candid. they said we are hoping on these new judges to be in our corner. that undermines the basic role of the supreme court, one of which is to recognize presidents -- precedence. i want to make one more comment about the law. not only is it interest in the sense that law enforcement attempted to apply this law will be done in a prejudicial fashion, either by definition, even people by good-faith. they are more likely to ask hispanics and asians to show me

your papers. by criminalizing this, this is something state of texas cannot handle. do we really -- our courts are already overcrowded, the dockets are backlogged. do we want tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of misdemeanor and felony pieces. every one of those individuals would be entitled to legal representation. since most will not have the ability to pay for their own lawyer, that means is that of texas will have to be funding a massive legal aid program to help these individuals. even if the supreme court did not find the law to be unconstitutional, i don't think it would be put into effect. even the proponents of the law did not really intend that. do they would you want to remove everyone in undocumented status

from texas? it would destroy the economy. it would not have a restaurant or a house open in texas. host: at a gop news conference in eagle pass, mike johnson was asked if he supported governor abbott's efforts. here is a clip. [video clip] rep. johnson: absolutely, we have supported what governor abbott is doing to protect his citizens. the white house refuses to do it. if you are a border state governor or any governor, you have the constitutional authority to do the right thing to secure your people. we have applauded him and any other governor who is willing to draw that line. everything they try to do, the white house has gone to court to stop. everything they're trying to do

to protect actions, the white house is going to have it undone. madness is the only word we can think of. it comes to an end soon. we are here to make sure that happens. host: your thoughts on the speaker's comments? guest: politically it is probably unfortunately a pretty effective statement. it doesn't make any sense. listening to her and speaker johnson -- to governor abbott and speaker johnson, you would think he has to do this because the biden administration is not enforcing the law. that is not true. the biden administration is enforcing the law. they are detaining large numbers of individuals. those are the figures republicans site. you mentioned the 10,000 figure

or the overall figure of the numbers of people detained. that is the enforcement of the law. what they are objecting to is the asylum law. everyone sees people are being released into the country. those people, once they touch u.s. oil or make a credible fear claim is a fairly low bar saying they fear persecution if the return to their home country, they are entitled to a hearing and are given a notice to appear before any immigration judge. they cannot all be held. we do not have the physical capability. all of this was going on during president trump. there were figures under president trump except for the year the pandemic. they were pretty high. they are higher hunter biden. -- higher under biden.

there is not that the law is being worse, it is that the law is being enforced and those individuals are entitled to an asylum. -- an asylum hearing. it takes five years before you can get a court date. we need to do something about it. we need to reform asylum laws. we need more asylum officers and immigration judges. i have a proposal that would change the current system. we have to be able to adjudicate those cases faster because the mere fact that someone is being admitted and can wait in the country five or six years and in the interim get employment authorization is incentivizing more people to come. host: let's go to your calls. mike is in north carolina on our republican line. good morning.

mike, can you hear me? caller: can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i have about three points. your guest seems to be knowledgeable. one question, and answer brief -- answer after i get done. how much on average is illegal immigrant costing american taxpayers from health care to schooling, housing, and feeding. the other thing is illegal immigration coming across is 10 times what it was under trump and under obama. 1000 people a day is a crisis. he is not saying that now. you are talking about that there have been illegals here for years and years. if they have been here that

long, how come they have not applied for american citizenship ? you tell the illegal immigrants that came into this the legal -- the illegal immigrants that came into this country the right way, what the biden administration is saying to them. it is very unfair. you always hear about that we are a nation of immigrants. host: i want to give charles a chance to respond. i wrote them down if you need me to be cap. -- to recap. guest: i did say that the immigrants are higher under biden i would say twice, not 10 times higher. the point i wanted to make is that we had the same problem under trump. the numbers have gotten worse.

projecting, i would say it is going to get even worse. under our current system, it incentivizes people to come. the cost of illegal immigration, clearly there is a cost. candidly, studies show it is a net bargained for the u.s. if you are here in another in undocumented status -- in undocumented status, you are not covered under medicare or any benefits. if you wanted to be cynical, illegal immigration from an economic view is a great bargain. they come, they are highly motivated and they do all the jobs perhaps your children or grandchildren do not want to do. you could almost say what would we do if we did not have them?

i am not saying that is a good thing, put as a practical manner, we get a benefit. one of the best examples of that is social security. to work in the u.s., you must be authorized. many undocumented have discovered what i testified before congress. you can get a social security card in any market that looks better than the real one. you have hundreds of thousands if not millions of undocumented aliens paying social security on a false number. they will never be able to get any benefit. indirectly, that number of accounts is in the billions of dollars. without fact, today -- without that, today, our social security would run a deficit. host: the third question was why

haven't people who have been here many years applied for u.s. citizenship? guest: that is greatly misunderstood. we have an extremely restrictive legal system. congress fails to even consider immigration reform. i worked on conference immigration reform and developed data for president bush -- and help develop that for is that it's bush. -- for president bush. for 99%, there is no legal means. if they go back and get in line, there is no way to get back. if they apply for a visa, they have to wait in their home country tenures. the vast majority have no way. the brightest graduates with a phd from harvard or yale or rice , they only have because of the

quarter limitations, they may have a 25% chance to stay in the u.s. anyone that is unskilled labor that entered illegally, they have almost zero chances of qualifying illegally without passing some of conference immigration reform. host: we have lots of folks waiting to talk to you. let's hear from glenn in corpus christi, texas on our independent line. caller: you hear me? okay. i tell you what. ella hundred mayorkas and joe biden have people in latin america that get on the radio stations and they tell the people how to get to the usa and get over the border. host: let's let charles respond

to that. is there any indication that happens? guest: of course not. after living in mcallen in gray in school -- in grade school, i went to ms. christie -- i went to opus christie -- corpus christie. they are not doing that. this is a huge problem for u.s., for the administration and politically it is a big loser for president biden. there is no way they would be encouraging that. to aid in the event -- to a summer to come into the country illegally is a felony. i have worked for george w. bush , i worked for romney, all on immigration policy.

saying the border is wide open is encouraging more people to come. ironically, it is not mayorkas or biden encouraging people, it is politicians who recklessly say that the border is wide open. those people are being released in to our legal system under asylum laws for a court hearing. all of that should be reformed. mayorkas and bided are not doing -- and biden are not doing that. host: the next is jerry in nebraska on our republican line. caller: i would like to know why biden got rid of the remain in mexico policy. it seems like that was working. these immigrants may be once be able to vote in elections right now.

when they start having kids over here, become citizens. 20 or 30 years down the road, this is going to be a one party system. they are not -- the republicans cannot absorb all of the folks from the illegals' kids. guest: that last point, as the caller said, anyone in the country illegally cannot devote. their children would be at least 18 years from now, could not vote. hispanics vote in very small percentages. the republican party been very encouraged, surprisingly, that

in south texas more hispanics are voting for a donald trump than any republican in the past. there is a republican candidate, formerly elected to congress, whose parents came here initially illegally. she is a trump supporter. i don't think your trump -- your caller should assume that 18 years from now it will be going one way or the other. i hope they do register to vote. they are voting at a very small percentage as it is. what was the other question he asked? host: the remain in mexico program. guest: that is in excellent question. remain in mexico is greatly understood. that was negotiated between the trump administration -- the

biden administration and the president of mexico. president trump threatened something recklessly. our biggest trading parker -- trading partner is mexico and he threatened to cut off the trade. they did to negotiate -- they did negotiate. we could not just say remain in mexico. that regarded three nationalities. it did not apply to folks with children or children. it was not to remain on the mexico forever, just remain in mexico while relate you into the u.s. in an orderly fashion in asylum.

once that was introduced, the trump administration named that remain in mexico. mexico has dropped that policy with u.s. those discussions with mexico about how mexico can assist the usa are underway. all of these people coming up from south america through the countries of south america from venezuela, haiti, cuba, they are putting huge pressure on mexico. mexico is a much order country -- poorer country and they are absorbing more than the u.s. does. than us will -- venezuela -- we are this powerful country but we

act like we are the weakest. we complain more and we do not see this problem in that it is a huge unitarian problem. we are talking about people who are fleeing for their lives. but clearly we have to secure our border and we have to do a better job about processing these cases on a tablet basis. our current system does incentivize more people to come. host: on friday, shalonda young was discussing government funding and the possibility of a government shutdown during a conversation with reporters. she responded to a question about the statement with espys bucha johnson that said the white house's $14 billion request for order security is smoke and mirrors -- for border security is smoke and mirrors and this is what she had to say. [video clip] >> i am not sure how more money for border control, the

equipment that detects fentanyl coming across the border -- everyone is fascinated about the border and in my day it was bipartisan to want to do more with that equipment. the presidential request asked for that equipment, more money for agents, more asylum officers. i get it. if you want to close the border and not have an immigration policy, why would you want to fix it? we want to fix it. we don't what people waiting five or six years before they get called in and have their case adjudicated. not only is that bad for our border policies, that is bad for these families to come get adjusted and then get snatched away from their communities. we have to do something to fix it.

you cannot think that people should not immigrate to this country and want to fix this process. if you don't have that belief, that we should have a functioning immigration process, you say no to all of this. and you hear the rhetoric to close the border. what does that mean about our immigration policy? there is something deeper there. a few years ago, republicans would have said sure to more asylum officers. we know that exist system work better -- that makes the system work better. now you are not showing willingness to have an immigration system that gets people to the border legally. that is concerning. host: in response to that -- any response to that?

guest: i agree with much of what she said in terms of the $14 billion request and -- $14 billion requested. the $14 billion would be used for more border patrol agent's. it would also be used to assist with processing the large number of folks coming to our border to apply for asylum. i think speaker johnson is saying that is fine, but we also want to change the system. in fact, president pres. biden: his open to changing the system, making reasonable reforms. that is what it is going to take.

i have advocated to reform our selling laws so we would give jurisdiction to asylum officers to adjudicate these cases before an immigration judge which is unfair because a vast majority were unrepresented. nasl officer would be tasked with -- test with all relevant factors. you would have a huge increase in the numbers and all of these hearings would take place relatively soon. more people would be granted asylum but no one would be released for five or six years because under our current system , a vast majority of those cases are being denied. we have immigration judges here in houston come about half of

our churches have denied 100%. liberal judges have denied 85% because a vast majority of people do not technically qualify for asylum. asylum, you have to show you have to show your being singled out for execution, not because -- sing about for persecution -- singled out for persecution. not because you are fleeing poverty. host: let's take one more call for mr. johnson. caller: i have two questions but first i would like to make a statement about speaker johnson. and tony gonzales. i would like both of them to go to venezuela and walk 800 to 1000 miles to see what it is like for those people.

i would like to make a statement . host: let's get to your question so we can squeeze in more calls. caller: don't cut me off. i have a statement about the doctrine of discovery which states if you are not white and not a christian, you don't own anything in this country. speaker johnson is a christian nationalist. this is what he believes. one other thing, ever since nixon, the immigration policy and asylum policy has been changing all of the time. thank you for listing and taking my call. host: do you have any response to that? guest: no. host: let's go to armand in lakeland, florida. caller: good morning c-span. i tried to bring this up before.

there is a couple of things that the system can do. e-verify programs should be adjusted. matt gaetz called for it for the corporations. i think e-verify should be for every business to make sure everybody working here is working here legal. everyone who is paying into the system, give them social security numbers. if they have social security numbers, they will be paying into state taxes, federal taxes, and social security. that would fix a lot of our problems. i would like to hear what you would like to say. guest: thank you. e-verify, i am very familiar with it. that is a very effective way to know whether or not -- all employers have 72 hours to verify that the individuals they

hired are authorized. they do that based on a form signed and documents that have been presented. a key document would be the social security card. i have already alluded to that they may look valid but they are not. e-verify is a system to determine whether or not that number matches with the individual or whether it is a fake number or a number that belongs to another person. it is very effective, there is nothing wrong with that. there are implications. today, if you had all employers using e-verify on a retroactive asis, long-term undocumented immigrants today is 11 million.

it has increased in the last several years. that 11 million if you used e-verify, they could all be kicked out of their jobs. at a time when we have record unemployment, there are millions of jobs that cannot be filled, that would -- the economy. to do what you proposed, it would have to be part of a bigger program such as a legalization program under certain conditions. you are right, there are a lot of people working that would like to pay into the system but they do not have a valid social security number. they are working off of the looks. if we had immigration reform, it would help our social security system. host: let's go to ryan in new york on our republican line.

caller: he says that our borders are open but why are they cutting holes in defense, -- in the fence, the cartel? they come into our country and wait three or five years. they have the same phone number, the address, they are living on the streets. i would like to know how they get hold of them in three to five years. host: okay. guest: let's say a couple of things. people have always come in illegally. the administration has done a pretty good job detaining those individuals. they are hampered by what the major problem is, not traditional illegal immigration. most from mexico where people

come in to avoid detection and work here for a while. those numbers have fallen off. what most people are thing about our large numbers coming to apply for asylum. the caller said what about the people cutting through the fence . some are cutting the defense -- through the fence to be detained so they can apply for asylum. that reminds me to talk about something else and that is building a wall. the caller reminds us that that wall is what is -- they can cut

at the base and should open. the real problem with building a wall being a solution is it was never a solution because the problem is a large number of people coming to apply for asylum. theyre coming to surrender themselves. theyre not trying to enter illegally. they are surrendering at ports of entry. they are looking for a border patrol agents to say here i am, i want to apply for asylum. the wall does not stop one person from doing that, nor does it stop drugs from coming into the country. statistics show that 90% of the drugs are coming through ports of entry on tractor-trailers, not over the wall -- for the wall is not stopping that, i should say -- or the wall is not stopping that, i should say. host: thank you so much for your

time today. that is all we have -- that is all the time we have for charles foster. thank you for your time. guest: my pleasure. host: later we are going to hear from puck correspondent tara palmeri on her podcast "somebody's gotta win" and the 2024 election. we are going to hear your calls on the question is democracy a top issue in this election? the lines are on the screen. you can start calling in and we will be right back. ♪ >> next week on the c-span networks, the house and senate return from holiday recess.

both chambers face the first of two government funding deadlines on january 19 and on february 2 to avoid a shutdown. on tuesday, watch c-span's campaign 2024 live coverage of the iowa caucuses as percentage of candidates enter the final week of campaigning. on wednesday, the house homeland security committee conducts the first of several hearings into proceedings of the hundred mayorkas. -- alejandra mayorkas. watch next week. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to watch live or on demand at any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> starting tuesday, watch c-span's campaign 2024 coverage as we are on the ground in iowa

for the final week of campaigning before the first in the nation caucus. watch voters meet the candidates and experience what it is like on the campaign trail. watch our live coverage of the iowa caucus on the c-span network, c-span now, or online at c-span.org/campaign2024. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> listening to programs on through c-span radio got easier. tell your smart speaker "play c-span radio" and listen to washington journal daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern and other public affairs events throughout the day. weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and not neglect the, catch "washington today" for a fast-paced report of the stories of the day. listen to c-span any time. tell your smart speaker, "play c-span radio." c-span, powered by cable. >> c-span now is a free mobile

app procedure on future view of what is happening in washington live and on-demand. keep up with floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for c-span's tv networks and c-span radio, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. scan the qr code to download it for free today. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. ♪ >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this.

it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capitol, to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are hearing from you today on a question, is democracy a top issue in this election? republicans can call in at 202-748-8001. democrats on 202-748-8000. independents at 202-748-8002. this was the issue brought up yesterday when president biden gave his first speech -- first campaign speech of 2024 in bluebell, pennsylvania. he spoke about the state of

democracy as well as his likely challenger, donald trump. [video clip] pres. biden: we are here to answer the important question, is democracy still america's sacred cause? [applause] this is not rhetorical or hypothetical, whether democracy is america's sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. it is what the 2024 election is all about. the choice is clear, donald trump's campaign is about him, not america, not you. donald trump's campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. he is willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power. our campaign is different. for me and kamala harris, is about me and you and every age

and back ground. it is about the future. we are going to continue to build together. our campaign is about strengthening and preserving our democracy. three years ago tomorrow, we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storming the united states capital. it was almost disbelief as he turned on the television. insurrectionists came to stop the transfer of power, the first time. smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking police. gallows were erected as people chanted "hang mike pence." inside they hunted for speaker pelosi. the house was chanting "where is nancy?"

over 140 police officers were injured. some of us attended the funeral of police officers who died as a result of that day, because of donald trump's lies. his last brought a mob to washington. he promised it would be wild and it was. he told the crowd to fight like hell and hell was unleashed. he told them everything they did he would be side-by-side with them. as usual, he left the dirty work to others. host: former president trump's reelection campaign put out this ad. [video clip] >> trump beats biden on the economy, take-home pay, down $7,000. mortgage rates, low under trump. punishing hunter biden.

personal and retirement investments, up 40% under trump. hunter biden, do investments fell, along with other things. trump will make america's economy great again. >> i am donald j. trump and i approve this message. host: let's hear from liz in new jersey on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i think we have a problem with people not knowing how to read or interpret the u.s. constitution. the president has no respect for the u.s. constitution. he wants to suspend it apparently as he gets reelected. he talks about many things that he claims are his social -- his so-called successes but we lost

millions of americans to go under his watch, one million americans across this nation. in my home state of new jersey, new york, new jersey, and connecticut got hit the hardest. we give too many american lives up to his nonsense, not wearing masks. host: do you think democracy is your top issue this coming election? caller: it is why i will not be voting for up donald trump -- for donald trump, a man who has no faith in our democracy, who never served in the u.s. military and has no respect for people who did. there are some late that make them unfit -- so many things that make him unfit. host: we have another viewer from new jersey, diane is in

morristown. "how is making every effort to keep your opponent off of the ballot because you are afraid he will win considered saving democracy?" i am guessing this is an reference to efforts to prevent trump from appearing on the ballot. caller: good morning, thank you. what is democracy? is it where you have a dictator and on the first day of their election they make executive orders that the congress and senate passed for laws and signed by the president? he has been the biggest dictator. how do you kill democracy?

by not letting people vote? the news media propaganda, those people vote also. they are controlled by the top. we are a communist nation. communism by truck station. the only means of getting from one end giving to another is through taxation. these things are so deep and i don't have time to explain things like this. don't let these people make all

of these mandates that you don't really want. tell them you don't want them from day one. i know donald trump said he would be a dictator only on day one. i don't want to be trump a dictator even on day one but biden has been a dictator through this whole process. host: let's hear from zach from baltimore, maryland, on the independent line. caller: i would say that democracy is a top issue but not in the same way most people would say so. for me, it is clear the american people are tired of being involved in foreign wars, in

gaza, ukraine. i'm not saying that would happen there is a good thing but the genocide in gaza and tons of issues at home need the budget to fix and the american people have spoken up and say they don't want this happening. there is a rally this upcoming saturday to say that yet again and i think for democracy -- host: we lost zach, but it's going to mark on our democratic line. caller: donald trump has never hid who he is and he's been a

very transactional individual since his business days. if you look at his cabinet it's like the revolving door of a walmart. if you look at the 14th amendment he is guilty of that and he shouldn't even be on the ballot and i'm surprised that donald trump is a great president and he has never hid who he is. he is going to be the death of the republican party. every time he shoots off his mouth people getting paid for it. because the more conflict that he brings into the mix the more popular it gets.

everyone seems to forget that he turned the crowd around and sic ced them on the capital. i know what i saw and as far as being the world leader he did something inexcusable as an american. host: mark reference those 14th amendment cases. here is an article from the held that the supreme court did agree to review the colorado ballot band. the supreme court agreed to take up whether president trump could be disqualified from appearing on the ballot over his actions on the january 6 attack. the justices order sets up the case to be heard in a

speedy case with the decision that could spark trumps removal. we have another comment from chester in north carolina who says democracy is at the forefront of issues this year because of trump and the threat he poses to our system of government. next up cheryl assad in our republican line. caller: thank you for having me on. he does have the right to be on the ballot in every time they call january 6 and insurrection is alive. no one has been charged with that. there is a lot of political persecution going on and it is really sad that so many people in this country believe that

politically persecuting people is a good idea when that is the very essence of destroying democracy. show biden's face calling half of this country felt the names every time he gets before a mic. it only reinforces that he has said nothing but hurt this country. i would like one democrat to tell me one thing that he has done to help their personal life, he is done nothing but hurt us. that open border is the biggest atrocity and the harm it is going to do is unbelievable. they don't have a clue what is coming down the pike. 13 american lives were

sacrificed in afghanistan and never blinked and i or took responsibility for said he was sorry. those were our american soldiers. trump did his best to keep us out of the war. four years of peace and prosperity, protecting this country. biden has violated his oath. he has done nothing but break that oath. he is guilty of dereliction of duty. trump never did that. and he did care about this country and our energy independence. please keep showing biden's face and what he is doing because it

reinforces what we all know. host: thank you for your call. we have a couple of other stories where following this morning. here's a piece from the new york times saying george lloyd austin has been in walter reed since monday but is recovering well and expected to resume his full duties. the pentagon press secretary declined to elaborate on the source of the issues but he is recovering well and expected to resume his full duties today. during his time in the hospital kathleen hicks was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of secretary if required.

another story we are keeping an eye on from axios. the house gop has taken steps to hold hunter bided in contempt of congress. -- hunter biden in contempt of congress. he has refused to sit in a closed door setting. they will meet on tuesday for a resolution to find hunter biden for refusal to comply with the subpoena. just a couple of those other stories but her question today, is democracy a top issue in this election? next step kareem from buffalo, new york.

caller: i wanted to respond to the previous caller. he signed the infrastructure bill, unemployment has been maintained lower than trump. trump got nations of the you went to pony up more money. democracy is threatened by donald trump of the fact that he is on the ballot. donald trump is an insurrectionist. look at what happened at the riot. he put up a slight of invalid electors asked the vice president to protest the election. why would they want this person to be president?

and what did he do on january 6? he tweeted out when people are writing in the capital, mike pence betrayed us. he tried to get his vice president killed. i just don't understand it. host: next up is barbara in new york on the democratic line. go ahead. caller: i am 81 years old and i am very afraid of trump winning. he is a liar, a grifter. he is denying all of the things that we stand for.

i have no other comment. i worry about our children and grandchildren. that's all i have to say. host: thank you for your call, next up is john on the republican line. caller: good morning. president biden said donald trump would be a dictator and democracy would be ruined by donald trump. in 2016 the democrats tried to overturn the 2016 election. they use the fbi and cia to influence the election. a cia official testified that the purpose of the letter

regarding the laptop was to help joe biden win. they used twitter and facebook to suppress information about the laptop. so if they're going to claim the democracy is at risk they need to look at themselves first. host: john was referencing the fbi and there is a story in the washington post that a quarter of americans believe the fbi instigated january 6 according to a post from the university of maryland. republicans have embraced the conspiracy that the fbi inspired january 6 attacks on the u.s. capital promoted by right wing

media and denied by federal law-enforcement according to a new washington post poll. the smaller percent of the public thinks there is solid evidence that fbi operatives encouraged the attack while 13% say it's a suspicion. you can see that chart distribution here on the screen. with the purple representing those who definitely believe this is true, gray not sure in the people in green saying that this is definitely false. next up we hear from sharon and bayshore, new york, the independent line. caller: good morning, so great to be heard on c-span.

when the topic is democracy and i was listening to president biden speak, he doesn't even seem to understand that his own party doesn't seem to believe in democracy and allowing other voices to be heard. i would like to hear more from rfk junior. he had to leave the party to run his own campaign. i went with him because i am a democrat at heart. i don't know how other people here but i'm glad you were able to listen to my view. host: next up is jack in atlanta, georgia. caller: hello, i just want to call and say it seems like the

problem, it's incredible the pure lies that so many republicans are believing. you just had a guy call in and save the cia tried to infiltrate, those lies are unbelievable and yet, they seem to be better at marketing these lies. i was not surprised but that nude trump ad, donald trump only had two years before the iceberg hit us. the economy was running smoothly . george bush had it for eight years and that fell off a cliff. barack obama took it over and had the ocean liner running

smoothly and the unemployment rate went from 9,8,7,6,5,4. do you believe that the six months of donald trump's administration had anything to do with donald trump? that was barack obama's economy at least for the first year. donald trump had nothing for us. and then the pandemic hit, not his fault but he handled it terribly. host: is democracy a top issue for you or is that the economic issues? caller: democracy is a huge issue because the republicans seem to be able to get their constituents to believe pure lies. you had one guy call in and say

is communism to tax. everything is paid with taxes and he's calling it communism. the problem is not communism, that fight was last century. we know the best way to run an economy is through capitalism now it's authoritarianism versus democracy. donald trump wants to be a dictator. that's the problem. it's authoritarianism versus democracy. every country in the world knows capitalism is the foundation of the modern economy. host: we want to get to our next guest coming up, tara palmeri will be joining us to discuss

her podcast "somebody's gotta win" in the 2024 presidential election. we will be back soon. >> the house incident or in recess for the holidays and will return next week for the second session of the 118th congress. both chambers face funding deadlines. january 19 and february 2. we are awaiting the other side to come forward with the number that we can agree upon. leader mcconnell and i will figure out the best way to get this done quickly. neither of us wanted to shut down. c-span, your unfiltered view of

government. c-span's campaign 2020 four coverage continues with presidential primaries for republicans. watch live is the first post surpassed in the upcoming election with candidate speeches and results beginning with the iowa caucus and new hampshire primary on january 23. campaign 2024 on c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. religious studies professor on the foundation of colts in the history of american cults. on the presidency, we look at the half-century after lyndon

johnson died with presidential scholars discussing his place in the american story. watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule online anytime at c-span.org/history. a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this, it looks like this. where americans concede democracy at work -- can democracy work. c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. "washington journal," continues. host: welcome back we are joined

by tara palmeri host of the ringers "somebody's gotta win" podcast. welcome to the show. can you tell us a bit about "somebody's gotta win" but what do you focus on? guest: we have to talk about the name. it's obvious but it reflects the general unhappiness in the selection about what our options seem to be as we move into the primary process. it looks like donald will be the nominee. in the same goes for the other side. polling shows consistently that even democrats don't want biden to be the nominee by more than 71%. there is a lack of enthusiasm

about candidates but they are most likely to be our nominees. the feeling is, this is happening but somebody's got to win so might as well know everything we can. part of my podcast is about how do they get voters out on the democratic side who are less than enthusiastic about joe biden? how do they feel about the messaging issues? understanding the trump voter and tap into his turnout and polling. i bring on politicians but i also bring on political strategist and expert who are working in the field and they

can talk about the inside conversation. as a little bit more insider but we also have some fun. i don't want to bore anyone to tears or make them completely horrified by politics and run the other way. we should be as informed as possible. it is in a reverent look at the inside of the machine. host: one of your recent episodes looked at the candidates age, biden is 81, trump 76, how does this factor in? guest: nobody is enthused to see these older white men running.

trump is 77 and there aren't many years between them. trump seems to have more energy. joe biden is softer spoken. and i think the most later years of your life every year matters if doctors have a lead the fact that joe biden is so much older, not much older than trump but older than most people. it is a huge issue does not feel like he is 81 but doesn't

understand why everybody is having an issue and his team tries to keep his age and try not to overdo it with travel. we will see how that plays out on the campaign trail. will he really be traveling all over the country? or will he stay in the rose garden? i don't see trump doing a lot of campaigning either. i can see him doing a rally. but i couldn't see him using the steps of the courthouse as the backdrop as he puts forward that he is a victim of the justice system.

i don't really see this being the ground game for either politician. but maybe i will be surprised. but mostly because of their age. it is on the mind of democratic voters for sure. host: president biden has a handful of challengers who say that biden would not be able to run against them. rfk junior be both joe biden and trump against 18-29 years old. can you talk about his challengers and the role of third-party candidates? guest: i think they are the

biggest x factor. we have no idea. it could be like ross perot on steroids and a lot of those political strategist that i talked to, they don't know how to factor that in. in presidential elections where it comes down to 60,000 votes in the swing states, the popular vote hasn't always been the indicator of who wins the presidential election. it really does count. jill stein, hillary did that when a michigan. a libertarian candidate one in arizona.

rfk junior has a prominent name with his anti-vaccination status. he also has a kennedy name so it could be confusing for voters. they may think he is a democrat. jill stein has announced she is running again. a progressive candidate that could enthuse the party who are unhappy over biden with his handling of the war or one a more progressive leader. and you have rfk junior who can pull trump voters in the group no labels saying they want to run a republican to pull voters

from trump. they have raise 75 million to get on the ballot. ballot access is a big thing. jill stein, cornell west, i think he is running as an independent. if rfk junior runs as an independent he needs to get on the ballot in the number of states, at least 20 of them and it cost 10 million and he seems to be raising money and is just a matter of organization to get on the ballot. a lot of these people could just be spoilers meaning on election

night, what we don't know what's can happen. it will be a close race between trump and by then and if you added in all of the spoilers on the right and left you have no idea what is going to happen. host: we do know that somebody has got to win. we are taking your calls. our independent line is (202) 748-8002, republicans at (202) 748-8001 and democrats at (202) 748-8000. we already have a couple of democrats culling in. let's start with sharee in north carolina. caller: i don't think trump will be on the ballot because i think the supreme court will do the right thing. i have a lot of confidence of that. i live in a republican area and

all of my republican friends say they are sick of trump. i have confidence in the mainstream republican people are not going to vote for trump. this is my opinion. host: there are two points there with the supreme court and mainstream republican voters. guest: i think he will probably be on the ballot. a lot of people don't think they will uphold these colorado and maine rulings. it's just a matter of how many justices decide, it needs to be a resounding decision. that he can't be removed from the ballot to put this issue away. or it will continue to bubble up and more states. i do think they will rule to keep them on the ballot.

anything can happen. the fact that the supreme court has republicans outnumbering democrats. the idea in north carolina the republicans are tired of truck. it is fertile ground for democrats. it's safe that these normie republicans would vote for joe biden. my family lives in north carolina. it does feel like there is a shift going on. a lot more transplants from up north coming down there. it might not be -- i think trump

fatigue is a real thing and he has not been in the forefront in the mainstream media except for his legal travails. i think day-to-day americans will become tired of it. host: next step is key in richmond, virginia on the democratic line. caller: good morning to you and good morning tara and good morning america. i have been listening all morning and haven't called in for a minute. the discussion about the importance of democracy, i just had to reach out to you in love to see if we can figure this all out.

i just want to say, president trump called for march for peace down to the white house but then he told them to fight like hell. i just want you to see how you use the vocabulary sometimes. host: did you have a question for tara? caller: democracy is very important and i believe joe biden will be the only one who can overcome trump because as we on the democratic side. but he may be able to pull it out for us. we need to support him because we have to keep them out of the white house. host: this is the narrative we

have been hearing from the democrats. guest: they are thinking this would talking about electability they believe joe biden is the strongest candidate they have. he beat them in 2020 and saying no one else in the party can beat him. it really kills the electability argument. this is an issue that they are pushing democracy and abortion. it's also a reminder of trump, the chaos, january 6.

it is a salient issue and we will see how salient it is. if the economy is improving and may resonate even more. it's hard to say what is can it like. this is been the narrative from democrats all along. joe biden is the only one who could eat trout. i think historically if you had a president with the numbers he has he would see a primary contender. his poll numbers are great though. i don't think in 2020, tribe ump ever polled ahead of

biden. caller: i was calling in regards to the 14th amendment due process clause. he would have to be charged and convicted of a crime. you cannot be penalized without that happening. i think it is very important. i am a constitutionalist but i am a constitutionalist. that's all i have to say. guest: that has been one of the stronger points made, the 14th amendment in keeping trump off the ballot. we will see how it all shakes out.

the court is slanted in donald trump favor. host: billy is in gardendale, alabama, the republican mine. caller: good morning. my comment is, i think democracy is on the ballot this time. i don't see how anyone can vote for joe biden. host: do you have a question for tara? about the election? caller: do i have a question for her? yeah. what does she think about joe biden and all he has done in there?

guest: joe biden has passed historically big legislation. the inflation reduction act, the build back better act, covid stimulus. he has passed economy boosting legislation, the kind of legislation progressives have dreamt of for years. he has done a lot of the things that the left has pressed him about. he has been dealing with wars in ukraine and israel. some people are happy with how he is dealing with it and some

not. the one of the things that joe biden has done is the return to normalcy. people don't have to pay attention to the white house because it keeps running and there's not the same kind of chaos and upheaval and disrupt the system that donald trump did every single day. the wild stories, the leaked tapes, whistleblowers and some people just like the calm of the biden administration. but at the same time, they haven't been able to solve their message. they haven't been able to sell the fact that there job numbers are up. they have supply chain issues they haven't dealt with.

there are ups and downs with the biden administration and a lot of it is just people having confidence in biden is a president and i really do think if he was younger he would be more popular. host: leon is in michigan on the democratic line. neon? can you hear us? we will try him later. let's go to david on the republican line. caller: hello? host: what was your question again? caller: i would like to comment. i'm interested in the procedure of the presidential election. i think it needs to be fixed.

the basic problem with the presidential election is the procedure. the presidential election is run by the states and they run their elections by their own state laws which can vary by state to state. they have rules or regulations with regards who gets to vote. these are all important factors and should have an effect on the outcome of the presidential election. host: thank you david. tara? guest: it's an interesting point to be made. we have an electoral college and it makes it so that in a lot of

elections, it is come down to a number of battleground states that determines who wins the election rather than the popular vote. some people don't like that. i can't see it changing anytime soon. i don't see democrats or republicans coming together and deciding to compromise on how we run our elections. host: mandy is in greensboro, north carolina. caller: good morning, isn't democracy the chance for people

to vote freely? guest: yes, the ability to choose freely, be able to vote and then to accept the election results. someone can win an election but if they are unable to take office the democracy is not allowed to happen. in other countries, they win an election and that they are killed or imprisoned. so the vote doesn't matter. democracy is a bunch of different things. but being able to vote for your representative and have the selections be fair. host: next up is patrick on the republican line. caller: i can tell you're an

intelligent young lady. i watch bill o'reilly a lot and he has a lot of fact checks but he has an opinion that michelle obama would step in and take over. she is the only one who could really compete with trump. host: les let her respond to the idea of michelle obama. guest: i have heard this from a lot of people and i think the reason her name keeps being floated despite the fact that it is very clear that she has no interest in getting involved in politics.

she is one of the most popular democrats in this country. she probably pulls higher than anyone. when people say who can beat trump? they are going to pick the most popular democrat in the country. she has an incredible name id. i just don't think she would do it. and i have heard from people that she won't. there is a belief that this democratic party, there is a belief that the polling we got for joe biden they have super delegates. they could change their nominee but i don't see that happening.

but anything can happen. there was a convention in chicago and they had a brokered convention and it turned violent. we hope that it is not repeated but you never know what is going to happen. but right now, you talk to the white house and biden is the nominee and that is what is going to happen. i think it would be really difficult to take biden off the ballot. kamala harris her polling is not as strong as his. host: can you explain why anyone would promote a third-party candidate with no chance of

winning in a democracy? guest: this is the thing that really befuddles people but it goes back to the idea of people wanting options. they don't like their options right now. there is not a lot of enthusiasm on any side. the primary voters love donald trump but general election voters don't. voters are not really enthused about joe biden either. what do you do? you present them with another option but that becomes a protest vote against two they would vote for traditionally. whether that is joe biden or a third party because they can't stomach trouble. i think it hurts joe biden the

most common of third-party candidates. unless rfk become so popular that he heard strep. but his name alone is so associated with the democratic party. host: nancy in altoona, pennsylvania on the democratic line. caller: i am listening to many comments, what did trump do? the most i saw him do is make this country not united. i do not see him as a leader and i heard you sort of say two different directions in one sentence.

he should be on the ballot but you are allowed to voice your own opinion. he told his vice president what to do and if he did not do it he should be killed. that's not democracy. democracy is very important. my question to you, i think the insurrection tells it all and trumps history of his presidency got us to the violence. he did not turn around the economy. host: let's let tara respond to your question. guest: i never said he should be on the ballot i said i think the supreme court will rule he should be on the ballot.

that's based on the constitution of the supreme court. he may have incited an insurrection but he has not been convicted yet. it's been difficult to make that argument and that's an argument we have heard. but again, maybe i will be wrong. maybe the supreme court did decide that he incited the insurrection. but i can't make that call, i'm just a journalist. i can only say that based on the number of conservatives and liberals on the supreme word. host: let's go to patrick in new hampshire on the republican line. caller: hi tara, are you a democrat or republican? guest: i am neither.

i am a journalist. i think i registered as an independent. i look at both sides skeptically. host: is that your only question? caller: i live in new hampshire and i think dean phillips could answer a lot of the question democrats are having. it's not just ages cognitive decline. 181-year-old can have a lot of energy or another does not have a lot of energy. guest: we are all different

people. dean phillips, that's a good western. he doesn't have universal name id. that's really difficult. he is running in new hampshire where there is not a democratic primary going on. they decided to change the calendar to south carolina because it was obviously done to help the sitting president. he does well in south carolina but not in new hampshire. i don't see dean phillips doing well outside of new hampshire. the polling numbers are there. there is a desire amongst younger people -- there is a

desire among democratic members to have a leader that is a little younger. just really hard to be the incoming president where the primary is not a primary according to the dnc. but he has out there pushing the message that there should be a primary in the democratic party. host: next up is jan on our independent line. caller: good morning, from vietnam war veteran. was i heard trump was going to become president i thought it was crazy.

and when he called were veteran suckers and hugging putin and kim i knew fascism was alive and well. it's goodbye to fascism and hello democracy. take heart america, take heart. host: let's go to dorothy in michigan. go ahead dorothy. caller: i want to say, it's my opinion that democracy belongs to the people and not to the courts. so therefore, i believe trump

should be on the ballot and let the people decide. if the courts are going to keep him off, that is not democracy. guest: the courts are chosen by elected officials that people vote for. that would be my only argument. it's all elected official who chose the judiciary. it's elected official who appoints judiciary so it is democracy. host: let's get one more phone call from texas. good morning donna. caller: hi, can you hear me? host: yes we can.

caller: i love this journalist. she doesn't go from her own opinion but looks at everything. i don't want joe biden ordered donald trump. everyone voting for trump, they think everything will go back to low prices. it might go down a little bit but it will never go back down all the way. all of you people counting your eggs on that, is not going to happen. i like nikki haley and chris christie. i like kennedy, i might vote for

him. and don't forget, if the one you want you can write their name down. guest: i agree with you on the fact that you have the option. i don't think chris christie will be an option for much longer. he is pulling in fourth place in iowa. i don't think you will see him on the ballot. it's hard to see nikki haley. you can write in but your vote will probably not matter and that's why having all of these third-party candidates are essentially votes against by dinner trump and when you have a close election -- against biden

for trump. if you don't want trump to win you have to vote for joe biden. if you really want joe biden to win then you have to vote for him. and if you want donald trump to when you have to vote for him. these third parties become spoilers. it is kind of like a throwaway vote. you have to be strategic about voting and that's a good thing to think about about third parties. host: that's all the time we have with tara palmeri the host of the podcast "somebody's gotta win".

thank you so much for your time. that is all the time we have for the washington journal today. and for everyone calling in. we will be back tomorrow for another edition of the washington journal. have a great day. ♪